Improved burnishing-machine



. f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LE ROY S. VHITE, OF VVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

IIMPRIOVED BURNISHING-MACHINE.`

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,520, -dalcd April 5,1859.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LE ROY S. XVHITE, of Vaterbury, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Burnishing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in ,which- Figure l is a side view of a machine with myimprovements, exhibiting it partly in section. Fig. 2 is a plan of thesame. Fig. 3 is a front view of the tool-stock. Fig. 4 is a transversevertical section of the carriage to which the tool-stock is attached andof the contrivances for holding the articles to be burnished. Fig. 5 isa horizontal section of the principal portion ofthe tool-stock carriage.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

My invention consists in so applying two burnishers in a burnishingmachine that the two shall operate simultaneously at opposite sides ofthe article or piece of work to be burnished, and that during suchoperation each shall serve to support the article or piece of workagainst the pressure of the other.

It also consists in a certain mode of applying and operating the stockwhich contains the so-called burnishers as to make it adapt thepositions and movements of the burnishers to curved surfaces.

It further consists in a novel apparatus for holding the` article orpiece of work to be burnished on both sides in a stationary condition,and which permits the burnisher to burnish to the margin of such articleor piece.

To enable others to make and use my invenvention, I will proceed todescribe its construction and operation.

The machine represented is more particularly adapted for burnishing thebowls of spoons, and the reason why I have represented it is that itembraces all the features of my invention.

A is the bed plate, on which all the other parts of the machine aresupported. B B are standards, which contain the bearings for ahorizontal reciprocating and partly rotating shaft, C, to the front endof which is firmly secured a yoke, D, which constitutes the principalportion of the tool-stock carriage, the

other parts of which will be presently de scribed. The said shaft C isfitted with a slotted cross-head, E, and with a worm-gear, F, thecross-head being attached to the shaft,by a pin and circular groove orotherwise, in such manner that the shaft may turn in it, but becompelled to move longitudinally with it; and the worm gearbeing fittedto the shaft, with a feather and straight groove or otherwise, in suchmanner that the shaft may slide through it, but be compelled to turnwith it. The cross-head E is prevented turning by being made flat on oneside to lit against a disk, G, which is secured to one side of arotating horizontal shaft, H, which is supported at the same height as Cin bearings in standards I I, and which constitutes the main shaft ofthe machine, said disk carrying a wrist, a, which enters a verticalstraight slot in the cross-head, which by its revolution -in the saidslot serves to give the shaft C its reciprocating motion. The worm-gearF is prevented moving longitudinally with the shaft by being made with asleeve to enter a bearing in the rear standard, B, and having a groovein said sleeve to receive the point of a screw or pin, b, enteringthrough the bearing. The said worin-gear has imparted to it a partialrotary motion at a very slow speed, first in one and then in the reversedirection, by means of an endless screw, J, on a small shaft, K, whichis arranged parallel with H in bearings L L, and which derives motionfrom H through a belt, M. The shaft C and yoke D are made to performsuch portion of a complete revolution in opposite directions as may bedesirable by means of two tappets, c c, on

the worm-wheel, which are properly adj usted to operate alternately onthe arm e of a horizontal sliding rod, N, which carries two forks, cl d,by which it is made to shift two pulleys, P Q, along the shaft H andcouple each alternately with a clutch which is fast to the shaft. Thesepulleys are supposed to be driven continuously in opposite directions bysuitable belts, and hence, as one or the other is coupled with the shaftand the other uncoupled, the direction of .the revolution of the shaftHis reversed, and so is the direction of the movement of the shaft C andyoke D about their axes.

The precise form of the yoke D can be better understood by a comparisonof Figs. 1, 2,

4, and 5 than `by the aid of any written description, so I will merelystate it to be of nearly circular form internally, with an opening, f fg g, to admit the holding apparatus, which holds the spoon or otherarticle or piece of work to be burnished, to pass thr'ou gh it. Thetool-stock R, which occupies a position some distance in front of theyoke D, consists of a strong frame, in which the two tools orburnishers, h h', are arranged exactly opposite to or in line with eachother, the burnisher 7L being fixed in the said frame, and the other,h', having a spring applied to its stem in such a manner (shown dottedin Figs. land 3) as to force -it toward hv, so that any article that isplaced between them will be subjectedl to a sufficient degree ofpressure between their faces by the action of said spring to effect theburnishing of both its sides or faces at once when a suitable movementis given either to the stock R or to such article. The said stock VR hasits sides connected with the sides of the yoke D by two rods, S S, saidrods being formed in one piece and connected by a bow, S', passing underthe yoke, the said rods being connected with the yoke and stock by pinsi el and j j, which permit the tool-stock to swing freely up and downand back and forth in planes parallel with the axis ofthe shaft C. rlhestock has an` arm, 7c, which stands up above its upper part, and whichis connected by a rod, Z, with an arm, m, which is secured in theworm-gear F or the shaft D.

The yoke D, the rods S S, and the rod Z combined constitute what I callthe tool-stock carriage,77 as by this combination all the movementsofthe said. stock are produced and controlled, the said stock havingimparted to it a slow partial rotary movement in opposite directionsalternately by the movement of the yoke about its axis, andderiving alsoan oscillating motion on the pins j j in consequence of its arm k beingheld by the rod Z, while it is moved back and forth by the reciprocatingrectilinear motion of the shaft C and yoke D. The arm 7c should be soproportioned that if the point of connection between the said arm andthe rod Zwere stationary the points or.

faces of the burnishers would be caused' by the oscillation of the stockto describe an arc approximating as nearly as possible to the aver- Iage longitudinal 'curvature of the spoon-bowl to be operated upon; butthe difference in the longitudinal curvature of the bowl in differentparts will be compensated for by the oscillation permitted to the rods SS, which oscillation also allows the tool-stock to accommodate itself tothe varying lateral curvature of the spoon-bowl, which could only beapproximated to if the tool-stock were confined in its lateral movementby the positive circular movement of the shaft C and yke D.

By the above operations of the tool-stock carriage the tools alwaysoccupy such a position that a line drawn centrally to the two will benormal to the curve of the bowl.

The holding apparatus by which the spoon is held to be burnished by thecombined movements of the burnishers along and across it consists of aclamp, T, secured to the bed-'plate and having its upper and movable jawoperated by an eccentric, U, to make it grasp the neck of the spoon asclose as practicable to the bowl, and three sliding bars, n a p, forholding the bowl at the sides and end. These bars are tted to slideparallel with the shaft C in guides in a stand, V, erected upon thebed-plate A. The central bar, p, has a cavity in its frontend to receivethe end of the bowl, and the side bars, n n, which are arranged at aboutthe same height, have grooves in their sides to receive the edges ofthebowL The central bar, p, is held up to its place to support the bowl byhaving the vtop part a short distance from its rear end cut away, asshown at 6 in Fig. l, to forni a shoulder or stop, which may be heldupward in front of the rearmost guide of the stand V by a spring, q,which is attached to the bottom of the said bar p, and part of whichenters the said guide along with the bar. rI he bars n n', not beingsubjected to longitudinal pressure, have no stops, but arev fittedtightly enough to their guides to prevent them sliding too easily.

The bars n n p are represented as made of round iron or steek-but haveflats filed or otherwise made in their front portions for a plate, r,that is bolted to the front of the stand V,to rest upon for the purposeof preventing the said bars turning. These bars n n p pass through theyoke D, and the bars n n pass through the tool-stock also; and in orderto provide for the moving of the said bars one at a time out of the wayof the burnishers as the Y latter approach either side or the centralportion of the bowl, and moving them back again to support the bowl assoon as the burnishers have moved out of their way again, the said barsa n are provided each with two studs or projections, st, and the bar pis provided with two studs or projections, u v, to be operated upon bythe yoke D, which is properly formed for the purpose, to push the barsout of and into their places again, as required, always leaving the bowlsupported by two of the three bars. reciprocating movement longitudinaly to the bowl, move very slowly across it, and before they approacheither side of the bowl nearly enough to touch the bar n or n the piecerw, attached to the central portion of the yoke, strikes the stud t ofth at bar and drives it back, where it remains till after the movementof the shaft C and yoke D on their axis has been reversed by theoperation of one of the tappets c on the sliding bar N and theburnishers have moved far enough away from the sides of the bowl topermit the bar to be replaced, when the front edge of one side of thelower part, f

f, of the opening in the yoke strikes the pin s and drives it forwardagain. Before the burnishers arrive near enough to the center of thespoon to strike the bar p the piece lw strikes the inclined uppersurface of the short stud v The burnishers,though havin a rapid on thesaid bar and depresses the said bar so far that the shoulder is broughtbelow the top of the guide and the said bar is allowed to be forced backby a spring, y, attached to the front of the stand V for the purpose,and remains back clear of the tip of the bowl till the burnishers havemoved far enough across the` spoon to permit it to come forwardagain,when the stud u is struck by one of the front edges of the part ff of the opening,` and the said bar moved forward again far enough forthe shoulder or stop 6 to arrive in front of the guide and be forced upagain by the spring q, to stop the retreat of the said bar till theproper time again arrives for it to move back out of the way of theburnishers.

1. So applying two burnishers ina burnishingmachine that they shalloperate simultaneously at opposite points on opposite sides of thearticle or piece of work to be burnished and burnish both sides at once,and that during such operation each shall serve to support the articleor piece of work against the pressure of the other, substantially asherein set forth.

2. The combination of the reciprocating and partially-rotating shaft Cand yoke D, or their equivalent, and the tool-stock R by means of therods S S, the arm R, rod Z, and arm m, the whole operating substantiallyas and for the purposes herein speciiied.

3. The sliding bars u n p, applied in combination with the tool-stockcarriage to operate substantially as and for the purposes hereinspeoiied.

LE ROY S. WHITE.

Witnesses:

NORTON J. BUEL, Lucius B. BRYAN.

